The Verge

Over 40 existing Aqara devices will be Matter compatible after the Hub M2 is updated in December. | Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge Aqara just lifted the veil on its smart home roadmap at the Matter launch event in Amsterdam. It starts with a free software update in December for the Hub M2 to make many of Aqara’s existing Zigbee devices Matter compatible. That will be followed by the release of Aqara’s first two Matter-over-Thread devices in early 2023 and a new multi-protocol hub coming sometime in the future.Starting in December, the maker of low-cost smart home devices will issue an over-the-air update to the Aqara Hub M2 to make over 40 of Aqara’s existing Zigbee devices Matter compatible when attached to the hub. That list will eventually expand to support more than 160 of the company’s Zigbee devices. Aqara’s other hubs, including the Hub M1S/M1S Gen 2, Hub... Continue reading…

Communities are like Discord, but for WhatsApp. | The Verge Meta is rolling out a few changes to WhatsApp that will make the app better to use for large circles of people, including the wide rollout of Communities.Communities are designed to house multiple related groups within bigger organizations of people, such as a neighborhood or a workplace. Think something like Slack or Discord, but with a WhatsApp spin (including end-to-end encrypted messages), and admins can share updates with an entire community through an announcements channel. The company first began testing Communities out in April, and now they’re rolling out to everyone. Image: Meta Multiple groups can be included in one Community. Meta is also introducing some new features that could improve day-to-day... Continue reading…

Secretlabs is finally giving you a way to wash your gaming chair and swap aesthetics | Image: Secretlabs Secretlabs, a company that’s become synonymous with gaming chairs, is finally giving us a better way to keep your seat clean. Secretlab Skins are available to purchase now directly through Secretlabs and allow you to finally wash off the sweat stains in your gaming chair, you filthy try-hard.Essentially slipcovers for Secretlabs’ Titan Evo 2022 gaming chair, Secretlab Skins give you a quick and easy option not just for keeping your chair clean but also swapping out its aesthetic. Made from the same SoftWeave fabric used on its gaming chairs, the Skins are all machine washable and are available in seven colorways at launch, in addition to several branded designs as well. The solid colorways of the Secretlab Skins are priced at $169,... Continue reading…

Qualcomm is expecting phone sales to be less than expected. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Qualcomm, one of the primary providers of chips and modems in phones, is predicting that phone sales will be down much more than expected in 2022 due to the uncertain economic environment, according to the company’s latest earnings release published Wednesday.“Given the uncertainty caused by the macroeconomic environment, we are updating our guidance for calendar year 2022 3G/4G/5G handset volumes from a year-over-year mid-single-digit percentage decline, to a low double-digit percentage decline,” Qualcomm wrote. The company also says that “rapid deterioration in demand” and “easing of supply constraints” in the semiconductor industry have led to increased inventory and that Qualcomm’s largest customers are having to draw down their... Continue reading…

Nearly two years later, Sony’s PlayStation 5 remains an elusive holiday gift. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge As Sony’s PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition near their second birthday, it seems that supplies of both next-gen consoles are finally catching up with demand (even with a new model reportedly on the way). Restock events are still the norm for snagging a console online, but things get a little more forgiving if you’re willing to visit a brick-and-mortar store, especially if you’re okay with paying a little more upfront for a bundle.The PS5 is sure to remain a hot-ticket item for holiday shoppers, but we’re beginning to see online stock stick around for several days if not longer, giving would-be buyers a better chance at securing Sony’s next-gen console ahead of the holiday season. And although retailers haven’t announced... Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge Google is adding package tracking features to Gmail, which should make it easier to see where your orders are at a glance while you scroll through your emails. In a blog post on Wednesday, the company says you’ll start seeing “a simple, helpful view of your package tracking and delivery information right in your inbox” in the next few weeks.Gmail will show you the delivery date on the list item for any shipping email, making it so you don’t have to actually open the email and click a tracking link to figure out when you should expect the package. If you do go into the email, though, you’ll see a card with more detailed info. At the moment, it seems as if the feature will be opt-in — when it becomes available, you’ll be able to turn it... Continue reading…

The company will assemble batteries primarily for Tesla. | Image: Panasonic Four months after selecting De Soto, Kansas, as the location of its future EV battery plant, Panasonic has broken ground on the $4 billion facility — an important step as the US aims to increase the number of electric vehicle batteries that are assembled domestically.The facility will primarily supply batteries to Tesla, which is the number one seller of EVs in the world and is gearing up to begin production of its Cybertruck at the end of 2023. The factory will focus on rapidly ramping up the manufacture of Tesla’s 2170 cylindrical lithium-ion batteries, which power the company’s Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.Panasonic is also working with Tesla on the next-generation 4680 cells. During the most recent earnings call, Tesla CEO Elon... Continue reading…

Image: Joe Brady The Overwatch League playoffs are already underway, but it’s not too late to catch the first live grand finals event in two years on Friday, November 4th, broadcast on YouTube. (Get the full playoff schedule here.) We don’t know yet which two teams will be competing in the final match, and any attempt to predict the participants is an act of monumental hubris.Depending on your perspective, the Overwatch League has this either frustrating or exciting tradition of introducing balance patches right before the playoffs. When that happens, the game’s strategies, known as metas, that have been solidified over the last few weeks of the season are tossed out, and teams have to adapt quickly to a new style of play.For this year’s playoffs, O... Continue reading…

Time for a meeting! You know, those things we have. | Image: Microsoft Picture this. You’re sat down with your direct reports for your weekly virtual meeting over Microsoft Teams. Your presentation is queued. You’re raring to go. But as you scan the sea of camera feeds that faces you, you realize that something is missing. No meeting is truly a meeting, you realize, unless the participating masses are seated before you in a pixelated virtual auditorium, arranged in an order of your choosing.Don’t worry. Teams has your back. In a recent post on the Microsoft Teams blog, product marketing manager Holly Lehman outlined a number of features that have been added to the software throughout October. These include some genuinely useful additions — live translated captions, detailed call history, and the ability to... Continue reading…

Image: Google Google Play Games is launching in open beta in the US today, allowing anyone to try out a selection of Android games on PC. Google launched an initial beta of the software on Windows PCs earlier this year, but it was limited to Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan. Today’s launch sees the beta service expand to the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore.Available games include 1945 Air Force, Blade Idle, Cookie Run: Kingdom, and Evony: The King’s Return. The app will even sync progress between PCs and mobile so you can continue where you left off on different platforms. While Google continues to add titles to the Play Games catalog, there are only 85 games available worldwide on the service right... Continue reading…

Image: Comcast Comcast and Charter have settled on a name for the streaming hardware ecosystem it hopes will give Roku a run for its money: Xumo. If this sounds familiar, it’s because this is the name of the free ad-supported streaming TV service Comcast acquired in 2020, which will now go by Xumo Play. Maybe it’s just me, but it feels like Comcast thinks Xumo is a super rad name and wants to use it again just to make sure everyone has heard how rad it sounds.Much like the streaming setups offered by Apple, Roku, Google, and Amazon, the Xumo platform will live inside Comcast’s hardware and should let viewers access a network of apps, including the Comcast-owned Peacock and Xumo Play. It’ll also feature other “popular apps,” which will presumably... Continue reading…

The show looks pretty bleak, just like the games. | Image: HBO The TV adaptation of PlayStation’s postapocalyptic game series The Last of Us debuts on HBO and HBO Max on January 15th. Text in HBO Max spoiled the release date earlier this week, but you can actually circle January 15th on your calendars now that the date has been officially announced. The first season will have nine episodes.Based on the bleak and brutal trailer released in September, The Last of Us looks to be an extremely faithful adaptation, with many characters from the games appearing in the show. (The trailer also gives a brief and terrifying glimpse at a clicker.) The similarities to the games are probably in large part because Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann, the creative director of the games, is an executive producer and... Continue reading…

Google’s Douglas Eck introducing Wordcraft, an AI-powered creative writing tool, at Google AI@. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge Remember that time Google showed off its artificial intelligence prowess by demoing conversations with Pluto and a paper airplane? That was powered by LaMDA, one of Google’s latest-generation conversational AI models. Now, Google’s using LaMDA to build Wordcraft, a prototype writing tool that can help creative writers craft new stories.AI-powered writing tools aren’t new. Chances are you’ve heard of Grammarly or copywriting tools like Jasper. What makes Wordcraft a bit different is that it’s framed as a means to help create fictional work. Google describes it as a sort of “text editor with purpose” built into a web-based word processor. Users can prompt Wordcraft to rewrite phrases or direct it to make a sentence funnier. It can also... Continue reading…

LG’s A2 may not have every feature that’s present in pricier OLEDs, but it can still deliver a phenomenal picture. | LG Having an OLED 4K TV on your wish list used to be a dream that few could afford to make come true, but that’s not the case anymore. If you’re looking for something in the $600 range, Best Buy has the 48-inch LG A2 for $569.99. The previous-gen A1 never dropped so low in price, so it’s great to see that this special discount has stuck around for the past couple of weeks. This OLED TV is one of Best Buy’s top early Black Friday deals, and it’s eligible for the retailer’s extended holiday return period that lasts until January 14th, 2023.We haven’t tested the A2, but we know that it’s positioned at the bottom of LG’s OLED lineup, below the B2 and C2. The main spec difference between the A2 and pricier models is its standard 60Hz refresh... Continue reading…

Flooding in Sanford, Florida, after Hurricane Ian. | Photo by Pauln Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Google announced a big expansion of its flood forecasting and wildfire tracking services today. It launched a tool called Flood Hub globally, which patches together forecasting across 20 countries. Google is also rolling out improved wildfire tracking to a few more countries after piloting the program in the US.Half of the world lacks adequate early warning systems for disasters like floods and fires, a United Nations report found last month. That’s a lack of lifesaving technology that can give people enough lead time to get themselves to safety. The hope is that Google’s services can fill in some gaps, especially as climate change makes floods and fires even more dangerous than they were in the past.The hope is that Google’s... Continue reading…

Imagen will be available in Google’s AI Test Kitchen app. | Image: Google Google is being extremely cautious with the release of its text-to-image AI systems. Although the company’s Imagen model produces output equal in quality to OpenAI’s DALL-E 2 or Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion, Google hasn’t made the system available to the public.Today, though, the search giant announced it will be adding Imagen — in a very limited form — to its AI Test Kitchen app as a way to collect early feedback on the technology.AI Test Kitchen was launched earlier this year as a way for Google to beta test various AI systems. Currently, the app offers a few different ways to interact with Google’s text model LaMDA (yes, the same one that the engineer thought was sentient), and the company will soon be adding similarly... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google has announced an ambitious new project to develop a single AI language model that supports the world’s “1,000 most spoken languages.” As a first step towards this goal, the company is unveiling an AI model trained on over 400 languages, which it describes as “the largest language coverage seen in a speech model today.”Language and AI have arguably always been at the heart of Google’s products, but recent advances in machine learning — particularly the development of powerful, multi-functional “large language models” or LLMs — have placed new emphasis on these domains.Google has already begun integrating these language models into products like Google Search, while fending off criticism about the systems’ functionality. Language... Continue reading…

Illustration by Lille Allen / The Verge Every once in a while, something comes along that every nerd out there covets. I have lost more than my fair share of time and money on my MiSTer, I have pined for a Steam Deck, and I am currently following restock bots for any Raspberry Pi I can get my hands on for less than 100 bucks during the Grand Pi Shortage of 2022.But few devices have captured the imagination of your friend who works in IT quite like the Flipper Zero: a hacking multi-tool shaped like a playful child’s toy and adorned with a friendly dolphin. Packed with a range of sensors, chips, and antennas, the Flipper lets you make playful mischief with all sorts of devices, from security gates to card readers.There are drawbacks to the mischief business. The company that... Continue reading…

The Mavic 3 Classic is the latest camera drone to join the DJI family. | Image: DJI DJI has launched the Mavic 3 Classic, an accessible variant of the original Mavic 3 drone that rocks many of its best features at a more palatable price point.The Mavic 3 Classic costs $1,469 for the base unit, which then climbs to $1,599 when paired with a DJI RC-N1 controller or $1,749 with the DJI RC controller. By comparison, prices for the original Mavic 3 start at $2,049. The Mavic 3 Classic is also compatible with the DJI’s premium RC Pro controller, available for an additional $1,199. Image: DJI The DJI Mavic 3 Classic (pictured here with the DJI RC) is compatible with any existing DJI RC-N1, DJI RC, or DJI RC Pro controller. So what are you getting for your money? The Mavic 3 Classic drops the... Continue reading…

Packing more speed than ever (and now HDR10 Plus) at a cheaper price, the Apple TV 4K is the best overall streamer on the market — even if tvOS is falling behind in places Continue reading…

The Facecam Pro includes a monitor mount that attaches with a quarter-inch thread (not shown above) and a USB-C to USB-C cable. | Image: Elgato Elgato has released the $299.99 Facecam Pro, its second creator-focused webcam that adds impressive features that aren’t in its original Facecam. Its standout feature is the ability to record 4K resolution footage at a smooth 60 frames per second, while many other competing 4K options are limited to 30 frames per second. You won’t necessarily see those benefits in Zoom calls since the internet compresses video quality, but if you’re a streamer, this could be worth checking out.$299.99 for the Pro is indisputably high — the smaller Facecam is now selling for $149.99 — but it might deliver the updates you were hoping for. 4K resolution recording aside, it also lets you choose between auto or manual focus mode. Being able to choose between... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Twitter is exploring the option to let users put video content behind a paywall, according to an internal company email obtained by The Washington Post. Mockups suggest users would be able to enable the “Paywalled Video” feature after adding video content to a tweet, and then choose from preset prices, such as $1, $2, $5, or $10. Other users would be able to like or retweet the content regardless of whether they’ve paid to view it.The Washington Post notes that it’s unclear whether the plans predate Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of the social media company. In recent years, Twitter has been exploring more non-advertising sources of revenue, including a Super Follows feature that lets users pay for subscriber-only... Continue reading…

The Hyundai Ioniq 5, with its pixelated lights and evocative design, is part of a trend of weird cars that are trying to make a statement in the age of electrification. | Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge It’s been a real WTF kind of year for car releases, new machines in new shapes with offbeat marketing leaning on gimmicky features that nobody asked for. Gimmicks are nothing new, but as I was pondering yet another incredibly quick, perfectly quiet EV, it occurred to me that I’ve been having an increasing number of head-scratching reactions to new cars over the past few years.Cars are, by my estimation, getting weirder on the whole. While an endless number of oddball models have come and gone over the decades, we’re presently awash in an incredible density of quirky gimmicks and outré styling exercises. Why? Because the looming wave of electrification is commoditizing many of the features traditional brands have historically leaned... Continue reading…

The mounting system attaches a Leica M-series lens to Xiaomi’s phone. | Image: Agatha Tang Xiaomi’s new concept phone allows a full size Leica camera lens to be attached to the back of a prototype version of its 12S Ultra. The version of the smartphone released earlier this year is already notable for having a 1-inch-type camera sensor on its rear, which is far larger than those typically used in phones and more in line with what you might find in a compact standalone camera. Xiaomi’s new concept gives it both a secondary 1-inch sensor, as well as a full size lens to match.In a teaser trailer, Xiaomi shows how the concept is designed to work with lenses in Leica’s M-series lineup. The Chinese tech giant previously collaborated with Leica to co-develop the camera system used in the 12S Ultra, which GSMArena reports included... Continue reading…

Did you know Google had a separate Street View Map? I didn’t. | Illustration: The Verge Google will be pulling the standalone Street View app from app stores in the “coming weeks” and discontinuing support for the app in March 2023, spokesperson Madison Gouveia confirmed in a statement to The Verge. 9to5Google first spotted evidence in a recent update indicating the search giant was planning to move on from the app.The dedicated Street View app, available on both Android and iOS, lets you check out places on Google Maps with Street View and contribute 360-degree imagery, or what Google calls “photo spheres,” to help make Street View better. But you can also use Street View in the main Google Maps app and contribute 360 imagery with the Street View Studio web app. That all makes the separate app somewhat redundant, and... Continue reading…

Image: AMD AMD was riding high last year as consumers bought computers in droves and cryptocurrency miners snapped up every GPU they could get, but this year, the company has come crashing down to the ground. While it’s bringing in more money than it was before, thanks in part to better sales in the data center and gaming space, its third quarter profits dropped by 93 percent compared to last year.According to its earnings report, AMD earned $66 million in profits in Q3 on around $5.6 billion in revenue. That’s not a particularly impressive figure on its own, but it gets worse when you compare it to its Q3 performance last year, where its profits were $923 million on $4.3 billion in revenue.AMD says it missed its targets for the quarter because... Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge Tumblr has made an update it hinted at in September, changing its rules to allow nudity — but not sexually explicit images — on the platform.The company updated its community guidelines earlier today, laying out a set of rules that stops short of its earlier permissive attitude toward sexuality but that formally allows a wider range of imagery. “We now welcome a broader range of expression, creativity, and art on Tumblr, including content depicting the human form (yes, that includes the naked human form). So, even if your creations contain nudity, mature subject matter, or sexual themes, you can now share them on Tumblr using the appropriate Community Label,” the post says. “Visual depictions of sexually explicit acts remain off-limits... Continue reading…

The 64GB and 256GB models of the fourth-gen iPad Air are available for their lowest price ever at Walmart. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge While the 2020 iPad Air originally sold for as much as $599 at launch, you can currently get the fourth-generation featherweight tablet for as little as $349 at Walmart. The 64GB Wi-Fi configuration of the 2020 iPad Air is currently available for $349 (originally $599) in all colorways at Walmart, while the 256GB model is discounted to $499 from its original $749.99 price.With the anticipation for new iPad models reaching a fever pitch, retailers are offering deep discounts on the last-gen model, granting a prime opportunity to pick one up for well under retail. The older iPad Air may lack the speed of Apple’s M1 processor, but its A14 Bionic CPU still delivers plenty of power for the vast majority of apps. The Air is also compatible... Continue reading…

The Uncarrier image is fading fast. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge What’s that in the air? Why, it’s the scent of crisp autumn leaves, pumpkin spice everything, and companies finding ways to charge you for things that were previously free. T-Mobile appears to be cashing in on the latter trend, as The T-Mo Report warns that the Uncarrier is about to instate a new activation fee.T-Mobile hasn’t responded to our request to confirm the new charge, but according to the internal documents obtained by The T-Mo Report and corroborated on Reddit, the $35 Device Connection Charge will be applied to all new postpaid device activations. Previously, the company only charged an activation fee if you used an “assisted channel” like in-store customer support to set up a device on a new line of service. Online orders... Continue reading…

Image: Daimler AG Mercedes-Benz just announced the pricing of its all-electric luxury sedan the EQE, and unsurprisingly, it starts north of $76,000. But unlike its electrified sibling the EQS, it’s not being listed at a price lower than its gas-powered equivalent.The EQE sedan is a slightly smaller sedan built on the same technical platform as the EQS. It was first revealed in late 2021 and is finally expected to hit dealerships in the US in just a matter of weeks.The EQE is expected to hit dealerships in the US in just a matter of weeksThe rear-wheel drive launch model of the EQE will use the same 90kWh battery pack that powers the base model of the EQS, which the company says will be good for up to an impressive 305 miles of range — which is less... Continue reading…

Signage is displayed outside of Occidental Petroleum Corp. offices in Carlsbad, New Mexico, US, on Friday, September 11th, 2020. Oil giant Occidental announced an enormous escalation of its plans to take planet-heating carbon dioxide out of the air. It signed a lease agreement on 106,000 acres in Kleberg County, Texas, where it would build up to 30 new facilities capable of drawing CO2 out of the ambient air. The land sits within the historic King Ranch in South Texas, where up to 3 billion metric tons of CO2 could be stored underground in geologic reservoirs.Despite being one of the biggest oil producers in the country, Occidental is trying to position itself as a leader when it comes to deploying new climate tech. The Direct Air Capture (DAC) plants Occidental envisions for its new digs in King Ranch would filter CO2 out of the air to keep it from building up... Continue reading…

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge This is the free weekly edition of Hot Pod, The Verge’s newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. You can sign up here.Hello, hello, hello. I hope you’re all ready for a busy, Amazon-packed issue. Because there’s a lot of Amazon news to go around today. First: Amazon and the Apple App Store. Second: Amazon Prime and Amazon Music. Third: Amazon Amp. And fourth: …some stats about talk radio from NPR, as a little breather.A quick note for Insiders: we aren’t planning issues for Thursday and Friday this week while we’re out in LA for Hot Pod Summit. We’re really looking forward to the event and bringing back some takeaways for all of you.Now, to the news.What are Apple’s audiobook rules, anyway?Say you want to offer... Continue reading…